A Failure to Communicate

Words are tricky things. It is possible to have a complete conversation, for both parties to go away thinking they have clearly communicated, and for everything to go horribly wrong.

Forthright is usually good for an update twice a week, but there was, to quote Cool Hand Luke, a “failure to communicate.”

While on vacation the first week in April, I left my laptop with an IT tech to replace the Vista operating system with Windows 7, because I had read a review recommending making the change to get rid of other software glitches. I ran the backup routine March 31st, the program said it had backed up, and I took the backup hard drive home with me, not knowing it would be needed.

I returned from vacation to find a note telling me the laptop had been “wiped” and Windows 7 installed, but not the programs since the IT tech did not have the disks. First problem – I didn’t know where the program disks were either. Second problem – the back up had lied to me, it only backed up my Outlook files on March 31st. Everything else had a March 4th backup date. Third problem – two spec deadlines within a week of returning from vacation, and files that were no longer available.

It has been a miserable three weeks.

In hindsight, the IT tech realized he should have stopped and asked about the backup disks before proceeding to delete files. In hindsight, I should have asked more about the details of replacing operating system software as opposed to other kinds of software. We had several discussions, but we never communicated because our experience and information was so very different.

Political conversations are often the same. Democrats and Republicans use the same words but bring different values, experience and information to the table that change the meaning. We spend too much time talking past each other, unable to address common interests or common threats because we lack a common language.

It’s gong to be a long campaign season. Let’s try to communicate clearly. We need leaders who are committed to transparency in our legislative process to avoid problems like this one, highlighted by the Washington Policy Center. Legislation can go unfortunately wrong when public hearings and the bi-partisan deliberative process are skipped.